Alex Elias Matt Alwin is currently the Head Golf Professional at Sakonnet Golf Club in Little Compton, Rhode Island. Alwin previously served as the 1st Assistant Golf Professional at Dedham Country and Polo Club (Dedham, Massachusetts). Speaking of junior golf, Matt Alwin said, "The one thing I try to build in a junior program is to build the junior program I never had. I grew up in Florida, a block away from a golf course so golf was always a big part of my life, but we didn't have organized camps or a PGA Junior League. Such events are a great way for kids to get to know the kids at their own club and other clubs."
In regard to specific advice, Alwin said, "The best advice I can give to an up-and-coming junior player is to challenge yourself by playing with kids that are better than you are." When speaking specifically about his philosophy, Alwin said, "If golf is a kid's third favorite sport before the camp, my goal is to make it number two by the end of the week." Alwin continued, "The more time we can spend with them on the golf course, the better off they'll be. It gets them to understand pace of play, etiquette and certainly helps them see the shots in a different light than they would if they were just beating balls on the range."
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Alex Elias Matt Alwin is currently the Head Golf Professional at Sakonnet Golf Club in Little Compton, Rhode Island. Alwin previously served as the 1st Assistant Golf Professional at Dedham Country and Polo Club (Dedham, Massachusetts). Although Dedham Country & Polo Club isn't the longest course (6,300), Dedham is certainly a stern test. Having served as the 1st Assistant Golf Professional for seven years, Matt Alwin said, "Out of all the golf courses I've worked at or played, I'd put Dedham's three starting holes at the top, as far as most difficult." As a result, golfers often tend to begin pressing early in the round. Alwin said, "It's very important to go into each round with expectations, but at the same time, it's important to not get too far ahead of yourself. There's a lot to be said about taking golf one shot at a time, one hole at a time." Alwin continued, "For me, playing in tournaments whether it was high school, college, or even now when I play in local section events, I like to look at an eighteen hole round as six three hole matches."
Throughout the round at Dedham, course management is of the utmost importance. Alwin said, "I think about every round I've played at Dedham, I've used every single club in the bag." Alwin continued, "So many of the new golf courses are designed for your 300 yard drive, but for me a successful layout and a successful golf course means being able to go through eighteen holes and using every single club." While the layout certainly requires every club, the most daunting feature of Dedham are the greens. Alwin said, "It's the hardest 6,300 yards I've ever played. The greens and the approaches are definitely the defense of the golf course." Alex Elias Dieter Wiedmayer is the Head Golf Professional at Sankaty Head Golf Club. Last week, Dustin Johnson said, "I hit some of the worse shots you've ever seen. But I go find it and hit again. Obviously not all of them are bad but I do hit bad shots. But it's managing those shots and not letting them bother you and going and hitting the next one good." In comparison, amateurs will often add additional pressure on themselves after a poor shot. Speaking of this notion, Wiedmayer said, "There's definitely a difference between the quality of shots between amateurs and professionals and their misses are certainly not to the extreme. The professionals control their misses much better, but their mindset is also much better. They look forward to the challenge of difficulty." Reflecting on the 1982 U.S. Open, Wiedmayer said, "An example is the '82 U.S. Open, at Pebble, when [Tom] Watson holed out from behind the green from an impossible lie. I think most amateurs would have approached that situation as I just blew it. I just blew this opportunity to have a good round." In comparison, in a USGA Documentary, Watson said, "As soon as I saw where the ball was sitting in the grass, I said, 'Well that is a shot I practiced hundreds of times in the practice rounds'". Furthermore, as Watson's caddie put his bag down, he said, "Get it close," to which Watson responded, "Get it close? Hell. I'm going to hole it."
Although professionals may have a better mindset, it is important to understand that every golfer faces some degree of mental challenge. Wiedmayer said, "Regardless of the handicap, an eleven handicap, a scratch golfer, or a professional, there are some sort of demons that we are all going to battle. It may be how an eleven handicap recovers from a double, or for a scratch, it may be I have it three under with six holes to play, how do I shoot under par for the first time?" While one's mindset is certainly a difference between professionals and amateurs, practice is another. At any given club, it is not uncommon to see a member warm up on the range for thirty to forty-five minutes, yet only putt for five. As a result, it raises the question: Do amateurs practice their short game enough? When Wiedmayer was asked, he responded, "It seems to me the common level is the six to ten handicap and I watch them hit balls and I'm giving them lessons and I can't understand how they're a six handicap. They're hitting shots more solid than me and then you play with them and they three putt four times. They don't ever convert from six to eight feet and now the rest of the picture is coming into play." Wiedmayer continued, "For a golfer with a six handicap, they could be closer to a scratch golfer, if they spent more time working on their short game. I try to tell my members a good putter can make up for a lot of mistakes." Alex Elias Playing alongside Curtis Luck and Ryan Fox, Brandon Wu was the first to tee off at the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club (Mamaroneck, New York). Notably, Wu grew up roughly five minutes from the club and when reflecting on his childhood in the northeast, the Stanford graduate said, "I actually thought it was advantageous to have the different seasons because then you could play other sports. At Deerfield, I swam and played football for a couple of years." Wu continued, "It certainly keeps your golf game fresh. At times, I definitely felt kind of rusty because I wasn’t playing year round but also when I got to Stanford and we were playing year round, I thought it was perfect." As Wu graduated from Deerfield Academy (Deerfield, Massachusetts) and transitioned to Stanford, Wu was fortunate enough to overlap with Maverik McNealy. When speaking of McNealy, the number one amateur in the world at the time, Wu said, "Having leadership like him on the team definitely helped settle me in."
On the academic side, it is difficult to find a more impressive school than Stanford, yet Wu felt prepared. Wu said, "Coming from Deerfield helped a lot. Just knowing what it means to manage your time well and structure your day. I think that was something I was already trained in which helped the transition." When reflecting on his time at Stanford, Wu said, "This might be a different take than some people, but I just think that golf isn't the most important thing in the world, especially going to a place like Stanford. I was fortunate enough that golf brought me to Stanford, but it allowed me to experience all the other cool things like getting to meet cool professors, making friends with people who started their own company and honestly, that helped with the golf." Wu elaborated by saying, "One thing we would always talk about is you play golf, you're not a golfer. I felt like my first few years at Stanford, if I wasn't playing well, then that consumed me. My mood was so dependent on whether I was playing well that day or not. After I made that shift to you play golf, that's not who you are, that's just something you do, I felt that distinction made me more relaxed and allowed me to play better." In 2019, Stanford won the NCAA Golf National Championship, which served as a perfect ending to Wu's collegiate career. Heading into the week, the headlines were centered around Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland at Oklahoma State, but those headlines quickly pivoted after Cole Hammer and Texas won in the semi-finals. As a result, Stanford had become somewhat of an underdog versus Texas. Speaking of the National Championship, Wu said, "I definitely felt like the perception was that we were underdogs. I think we both embraced that role and were confident in ourselves. We were kind of just focused on our own team. Honestly, it was almost good to not be the favorite because I feel like all Oklahoma State was thinking about was winning the final. But for us, we just had to beat this team in front of us and focus on the task at hand." Wu and Stanford did exactly that beating Wake Forest and Vanderbilt on their way to the finals. Wu said, "We played Wake Forest, then we played Vandy. We won close matches, but then we were in the finals and at that point, you might as well win it." In the end, Stanford captured their ninth National Championship and Wu described it as, "A special week that I'll remember forever." Currently, Wu is playing on the Korn Ferry Tour and notably, he won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship last August. While Wu had success right away, many Korn Ferry Tour players find playing individually as a challenge after years in college. Wu touched on this notion saying, "It's definitely tough. I felt like especially with golf, you grow up playing it as an individual sport. College is kind of the one section of your career where it is pretty unique to play on a team and its super fun, but at the end of the day its tough not having people to help you [on the tour]. It's just you. You know you have to go out and do your thing and perform and do well. I mean 100% of the responsibility is on you, which is good and bad, but you have the opportunity to take control of your situation and make the best out of it." Wu may not have found playing individually as a challenge, but he did need to adapt to the volume of golf. Wu said, "Last year, I did six weeks in a row and then five weeks in a row. For me the biggest thing is managing my rest and not being too tired. That both means mentally tired and physically tired." In his young career, Wu has already played in two U.S. Opens. In his first U.S. Open, Wu played alongside Dustin Johnson on Sunday at Pebble Beach. For any young golfer, playing alongside the number one golfer in the world can be extremely intimidating, but it can also be extremely beneficial. Wu used it as a learning experience saying, "I think sometimes the margins are quite thin. Some things are different, like I'm never going to hit it as far as DJ, but you can make up for it putting or hitting your irons a little bit closer. It's important to realize everyone has their own way of going about it. Another thing I learned is how people manage their games and that has a lot to do with their short game. It just seems like everyone's short game and their ability to get it back into play and minimize the damage is really, really good." |
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